title: PeerJ description: Articles published in PeerJ link: https://peerj.com/articles/index.rss3?journal=peerj&page=1539 creator: info@peerj.com PeerJ errorsTo: info@peerj.com PeerJ language: en title: Potentially inappropriate use of benzodiazepines and z-drugs in the older population—analysis of associations between long-term use and patient-related factors link: https://peerj.com/articles/4614 last-modified: 2018-05-22 description: IntroductionThe long-term use of benzodiazepines (BZD) and z-drugs in older populations is associated with a variety of sociodemographic and health-related factors. Recent studies reported that long-term BZD and z-drugs use is associated with increased age, female sex, and severe negative psychological (e.g., depression) and somatic (e.g., chronic disease) factors. The current study explores the sociodemographic and health-related factors associated with long-term BZD and z-drugs use in the elderly.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey among randomly selected patients of one health insurance plan (“AOK North-West”) with BZD and z-drugs prescriptions in the past 12 months. The sample was stratified by appropriate German prescription guidelines (yes vs. no) and age (50–65 vs. >65 years). To examine the association of selected sociodemographic and psychological variables (e.g., sex, employment status, quality of life, depression) with long-term use, a binary logistic regression analysis was conducted.ResultsIn total, data from 340 patients were analyzed. The mean age was 72.1 (SD = 14.5) years, and the most commonly used substances were zopiclon (38.1%), oxazepam (18.1%), and lorazepam (13.8%). The mean defined daily dose (DDD) was 0.73 (SD = 0.47). Insomnia was the main reason for prescribing BZD and z-drugs. The long-term use of BZD and z-drugs was significantly associated with unemployment (OR = 2.9, 95% CI [1.2–7.1]) and generally problematic medication use (OR = 0.5, 95% CI [0.2–1.0]).DiscussionUnemployment status and problematic medication use had a significant association with the patient-reported, long-term use of BZD and z-drugs. Divergent prescription patterns might suggest problematic patterns of BZD and z-drugs use. The causal connection between the identified factors and problematic BZD and z-drugs prescription is not discussed in this paper. Nevertheless, employment status and possible evidence of general problematic drug use may be a warning signal to the prescribers of BZD and z-drugs. creator: Aliaksandra Mokhar creator: Niklas Tillenburg creator: Jörg Dirmaier creator: Silke Kuhn creator: Martin Härter creator: Uwe Verthein uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4614 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2018 Mokhar et al. title: Impact of input data (in)accuracy on overestimation of visible area in digital viewshed models link: https://peerj.com/articles/4835 last-modified: 2018-05-21 description: Viewshed analysis is a GIS tool in standard use for more than two decades to perform numerous scientific and practical tasks. The reliability of the resulting viewshed model depends on the computational algorithm and the quality of the input digital surface model (DSM). Although many studies have dealt with improving viewshed algorithms, only a few studies have focused on the effect of the spatial accuracy of input data. Here, we compare simple binary viewshed models based on DSMs having varying levels of detail with viewshed models created using LiDAR DSM. The compared DSMs were calculated as the sums of digital terrain models (DTMs) and layers of forests and buildings with expertly assigned heights. Both elevation data and the visibility obstacle layers were prepared using digital vector maps differing in scale (1:5,000, 1:25,000, and 1:500,000) as well as using a combination of a LiDAR DTM with objects vectorized on an orthophotomap. All analyses were performed for 104 sample locations of 5 km2, covering areas from lowlands to mountains and including farmlands as well as afforested landscapes. We worked with two observer point heights, the first (1.8 m) simulating observation by a person standing on the ground and the second (80 m) as observation from high structures such as wind turbines, and with five estimates of forest heights (15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 m). At all height estimations, all of the vector-based DSMs used resulted in overestimations of visible areas considerably greater than those from the LiDAR DSM. In comparison to the effect from input data scale, the effect from object height estimation was shown to be secondary. creator: Ondřej Lagner creator: Tomáš Klouček creator: Petra Šímová uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4835 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2018 Lagner et al. title: On the efficiency of the genetic code after frameshift mutations link: https://peerj.com/articles/4825 last-modified: 2018-05-21 description: Statistical and biochemical studies of the standard genetic code (SGC) have found evidence that the impact of mistranslations is minimized in a way that erroneous codes are either synonymous or code for an amino acid with similar polarity as the originally coded amino acid. It could be quantified that the SGC is optimized to protect this specific chemical property as good as possible. In recent work, it has been speculated that the multilevel optimization of the genetic code stands in the wider context of overlapping codes. This work tries to follow the systematic approach on mistranslations and to extend those analyses to the general effect of frameshift mutations on the polarity conservation of amino acids. We generated one million random codes and compared their average polarity change over all triplets and the whole set of possible frameshift mutations. While the natural code—just as for the point mutations—appears to be competitively robust against frameshift mutations as well, we found that both optimizations appear to be independent of each other. For both, better codes can be found, but it becomes significantly more difficult to find candidates that optimize all of these features—just like the SGC does. We conclude that the SGC is not only very efficient in minimizing the consequences of mistranslations, but rather optimized in amino acid polarity conservation for all three effects of code alteration, namely translational errors, point and frameshift mutations. In other words, our result demonstrates that the SGC appears to be much more than just “one in a million”. creator: Regine Geyer creator: Amir Madany Mamlouk uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4825 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2018 Geyer and Madany Mamlouk title: Understanding mitochondrial myopathies: a review link: https://peerj.com/articles/4790 last-modified: 2018-05-21 description: Mitochondria are small, energy-producing structures vital to the energy needs of the body. Genetic mutations cause mitochondria to fail to produce the energy needed by cells and organs which can cause severe disease and death. These genetic mutations are likely to be in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), or possibly in the nuclear DNA (nDNA). The goal of this review is to assess the current understanding of mitochondrial diseases. This review focuses on the pathology, causes, risk factors, symptoms, prevalence data, symptomatic treatments, and new research aimed at possible preventions and/or treatments of mitochondrial diseases. Mitochondrial myopathies are mitochondrial diseases that cause prominent muscular symptoms such as muscle weakness and usually present with a multitude of symptoms and can affect virtually all organ systems. There is no cure for these diseases as of today. Treatment is generally supportive and emphasizes symptom management. Mitochondrial diseases occur infrequently and hence research funding levels tend to be low in comparison with more common diseases. On the positive side, quite a few genetic defects responsible for mitochondrial diseases have been identified, which are in turn being used to investigate potential treatments. Speech therapy, physical therapy, and respiratory therapy have been used in mitochondrial diseases with variable results. These therapies are not curative and at best help with maintaining a patient’s current abilities to move and function. creator: Abhimanyu S. Ahuja uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4790 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2018 Ahuja title: Multilocus phylogeny of the parasitic wasps in the tribe Euphorini (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) with revised generic classifications link: https://peerj.com/articles/4783 last-modified: 2018-05-21 description: BackgroundParasitic wasps in the family Braconidae are important regulators of insect pests, particularly in forest and agroecosystems. Within Braconidae, wasps in the tribe Euphorini (Euphorinae) attack economically damaging plant bugs (Miridae) that are major pests of field and vegetable crops. However, the evolutionary relationships of this tribe have been historically problematic. Most generic concepts have been based on ambiguous morphological characters which often leads to misidentification, complicating their use in biological control.MethodsUsing a combination of three genes (COI, 28S, and CAD) and 80 taxa collected worldwide, we conducted Bayesian inference using MrBayes, and maximum likelihood analyses using RAxML and IQ-Tree on individual gene trees as well as the concatenated dataset.ResultsThe monophyly of the tribe Euphorini and the two genera Peristenus and Leiophron were confirmed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. The subgeneric classifications of Leiophron sensu lato were not supported, and the monotypic genus Mama was also not supported.DiscussionEuphoriella, Euphoriana, Euphorus, and Mama syn. n, have been synonymized under Leiophron. Mama mariaesyn. n was placed as a junior synonym of Leiophron reclinator. The generic concepts of Peristenus and Leiophron were refined to reflect the updated phylogeny. Further we discuss the need for revising Euphorini given the number of undescribed species within the tribe. creator: Yuanmeng Miles Zhang creator: Julia Stigenberg creator: Jacqueline Hope Meyer creator: Barbara Jo-Anne Sharanowski uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4783 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2018 Zhang et al. title: Intolerance of uncertainty and conditioned place preference in opioid addiction link: https://peerj.com/articles/4775 last-modified: 2018-05-21 description: Several personality factors have been implicated in vulnerability to addiction by impacting learning and decision making. One such factor is intolerance of uncertainty (IU), the tendency to perceive uncertain situations negatively and avoid them. Conditioned place preference (CPP), which compares preference for contexts paired with reward, has been used to examine the motivation for both drug and non-drug rewards. However, preference for locations associated with non-drug reward, as well as the potential influence of IU, has not been thoroughly studied in individuals with addiction. In the current study, we examined CPP using a computer-based task in a sample of addicted individuals undergoing opioid maintenance treatment and never-addicted controls. Patients were confirmed to have higher IU than controls. In the CPP task, the two groups did not differ in overall time spent in the previously-rewarded context. However, controls were more likely than patients to immediately return to this context. Contrary to our predictions, IU was not a significant predictor of preference for the previously-rewarded context, although higher IU in controls was associated with a higher number of rewards obtained in the task. No such relationship was found in patients. creator: Milen L. Radell creator: Michael Todd Allen creator: Belinda Favaloro creator: Catherine E. Myers creator: Paul Haber creator: Kirsten Morley creator: Ahmed A. Moustafa uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4775 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2018 Radell et al. title: Effects of long-term fertilisation on aggregates and dynamics of soil organic carbon in a semi-arid agro-ecosystem in China link: https://peerj.com/articles/4758 last-modified: 2018-05-21 description: BackgroundLong-term fertilisation has a large influence on soil physical and chemical properties in agro-ecosystems. The effects on the distribution of aggregates, however, are not fully understood. We determined the dynamic change of the distribution of aggregates and soil organic carbon (SOC) content over time in a long-term field experiment established in 1998 on the Loess Plateau of China and illustrated the relationship between them.MethodsWe determined SOC content and the distribution of aggregates in nine fertiliser treatments: manure (M); nitrogen (N); phosphorus (P); M and N; M, N, and P; M and P; N and P; bare land; and an unfertilised control. These parameters were then used for a path analysis and to analyse the fractal dimension (Dv).ResultsThe organic fertiliser increased SOC content. The proportions of 0.1–0.25 mm microaggregates and 0.25–0.5 mm macroaggregates were higher and the proportion of the 0.01–0.05 mm size class of the silt + clay fraction was lower in the treatments receiving organic fertiliser (M, MN, MNP, and MP) than that in the control, indicating that the addition of organic fertiliser promoted aggregation. The distribution of aggregates characterised by their fractal dimension (Dv), however, did not differ among the treatments.DiscussionDv was strongly correlated with the proportion of the <0.002 mm size class of the silt + clay fraction that did not differ significantly among the treatments. The change in the distribution of aggregates was strongly correlated with SOC content, which could produce organic polymer binding agents to increase the proportion of larger particles. Long-term application of organic fertiliser is thus necessary for the improvement and maintenance of soil quality in semi-arid agricultural land when residues are removed. creator: Jiaoyang Zhang creator: Caili Sun creator: Guobin Liu creator: Sha Xue uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4758 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2018 Zhang et al. title: Living upside down: patterns of red coral settlement in a cave link: https://peerj.com/articles/4649 last-modified: 2018-05-21 description: BackgroundLarval settlement and intra-specific interactions during the recruitment phase are crucial in determining the distribution and density of sessile marine populations. Marine caves are confined and stable habitats. As such, they provide a natural laboratory to study the settlement and recruitment processes in sessile invertebrates, including the valuable Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum. In the present study, the spatial and temporal variability of red coral settlers in an underwater cave was investigated by demographic and genetic approaches.MethodsSixteen PVC tiles were positioned on the walls and ceiling of the Colombara Cave, Ligurian Sea, and recovered after twenty months. A total of 372 individuals of red coral belonging to two different reproductive events were recorded. Basal diameter, height, and number of polyps were measured, and seven microsatellites loci were used to evaluate the genetic relationships among individuals and the genetic structure.ResultsSignificant differences in the colonization rate were observed both between the two temporal cohorts and between ceiling and walls. No genetic structuring was observed between cohorts. Overall, high levels of relatedness among individuals were found.ConclusionThe results show that C. rubrumindividuals on tiles are highly related at very small spatial scales, suggesting that nearby recruits are likely to be sibs. Self-recruitment and the synchronous settlement of clouds of larvae could be possible explanations for the observed pattern. creator: Federica Costantini creator: Luca Rugiu creator: Carlo Cerrano creator: Marco Abbiati uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4649 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: ©2018 Costantini et al. title: I understand you feel that way, but I feel this way: the benefits of I-language and communicating perspective during conflict link: https://peerj.com/articles/4831 last-modified: 2018-05-18 description: Using hypothetical scenarios, we provided participants with potential opening statements to a conflict discussion that varied on I/you language and communicated perspective. Participants rated the likelihood that the recipient of the statement would react in a defensive manner. Using I-language and communicating perspective were both found to reduce perceptions of hostility. Statements that communicated both self- and other-perspective using I-language (e.g. ‘I understand why you might feel that way, but I feel this way, so I think the situation is unfair’) were rated as the best strategy to open a conflict discussion. Simple acts of initial language use can reduce the chances that conflict discussion will descend into a downward spiral of hostility. creator: Shane L. Rogers creator: Jill Howieson creator: Casey Neame uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4831 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2018 Rogers et al. title: Fitness consequences of fish circadian behavioural variation in exploited marine environments link: https://peerj.com/articles/4814 last-modified: 2018-05-18 description: The selective properties of fishing that influence behavioural traits have recently gained interest. Recent acoustic tracking experiments have revealed between-individual differences in the circadian behavioural traits of marine free-living fish; these differences are consistent across time and ecological contexts and generate different chronotypes. Here, we hypothesised that the directional selection resulting from fishing influences the wild circadian behavioural variation and affects differently to individuals in the same population differing in certain traits such as awakening time or rest onset time. We developed a spatially explicit social-ecological individual-based model (IBM) to test this hypothesis. The parametrisation of our IBM was fully based on empirical data; which represent a fishery formed by patchily distributed diurnal resident fish that are exploited by a fleet of mobile boats (mostly bottom fisheries). We ran our IBM with and without the observed circadian behavioural variation and estimated selection gradients as a quantitative measure of trait change. Our simulations revealed significant and strong selection gradients against early-riser chronotypes when compared with other behavioural and life-history traits. Significant selection gradients were consistent across a wide range of fishing effort scenarios. Our theoretical findings enhance our understanding of the selective properties of fishing by bridging the gaps among three traditionally separated fields: fisheries science, behavioural ecology and chronobiology. We derive some general predictions from our theoretical findings and outline a list of empirical research needs that are required to further understand the causes and consequences of circadian behavioural variation in marine fish. creator: Martina Martorell-Barceló creator: Andrea Campos-Candela creator: Josep Alós uri: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4814 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rights: © 2018 Martorell-Barceló et al.